4. The Balance of Life: Interdependence in Action
4. The Balance of Life: Interdependence in Action
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Justify that interdependence is a delicate balance
An organism is a single living thing. Many living things interact with others in their environment and sometimes depend on them to stay alive hence, interdependence is a delicate balance1.
Interdependence in ecosystems refers to the interconnected relationships among various organisms and their environment, where the survival and well-being of one species often rely on the actions, presence, or health of others. Within an interdependent ecosystem, plants, animals, and microorganisms depend on one another for essential needs such as food, shelter, pollination, and seed dispersal. They also rely on non-living components like water, soil, and air to support life. This interdependence plays a critical role in maintaining the flow of energy, the cycling of nutrients, and overall balance and resilience of ecosystems.
Fig. 4.1 An example of Interdependence
Without this interdependence, the delicate balance of an ecosystem could be disrupted, causing widespread effects on all living organisms, including humans.6
Sometimes, sudden events like volcanoes, floods, or fires can impact which plants and animals thrive in an area. Humans can also dirsupt ecosystems. Some disruptions can make a certain plant or animal disappear forever, and we call that extinction. As species disappear, there's less variety in the world, it can mess up the others in the group, kind of like a domino effect, and that can mess up the whole ecosystem2.
Example: Consider the food chain: grass……> rabbit…….> fox
If the foxes were removed, the number of rabbits might go up because they wouldn't be hunted anymore. This could also mean less grass because the increased rabbit population would eat more of it.
Even small changes in nature can have big effects, and it's tricky to guess what might happen. This shows how all the living things in an area depend on each other1.
Interdependence often revolves around the availability and distribution of vital resources like water, sunlight, and nutrients. These factors influence the growth of plants, the behaviour of animals, the success of different organisms, and their interactions with the environment. Ecosystems feel the impact of environmental change in various ways. Changes such as alterations in rainfall patterns or nutrient availability can upset the delicate balance within an ecosystem3.
For instance, if a plant is well-adapted to lower temperatures in its specific environment and experiences a temperature change (thanks to global warming!), it may not survive, leading to the area no longer being able to support life. This change is due to the change in temperature of the habitat4.
A lot of the changes in ecosystems can happen because of human activity.
Reduced space for a certain species or group of species to live and procreate is referred to as habitat loss.
Loss of habitat happens when there are changes in how land is used, like clearing a forest to plant crops, or through activities such as mining that directly harm natural landscapes5.
Fig. 4.2 Deforestation
People introduce new species of plants and animals for the purpose of travel or trade. These outsider species can eat or compete with the local species for what they need. The problem is, these intruders usually don't have any natural enemies in their new home, so their numbers can go up a lot and mess up how things usually work in that area5.
Human activities like farming, industrialisation, construction, etc. cause pollution. Pollution introduces unwanted substances in the environment which disturbs the delicate balance of the ecosystem. When ecosystems are subjected to significant human disturbances, the delicate balance can be severely compromised.
Fig. 4.3 Pollution
Glossary
organism: any living thing, like a plant, animal, or microorganism.
species: a group of similar living things that can reproduce and have babies.
pollination: when pollen moves from one flower to another to help plants make seeds.
seed dispersal: the way seeds are spread out so new plants can grow.
microorganism: a tiny living thing that is too small to see without a microscope.
resilience: the ability of an ecosystem to stay strong or bounce back after a change or disturbance.
extinction: when a kind of animal or plant completely disappears from the Earth.
domino effect: when one change causes many other changes, like falling dominoes.
habitat loss: when animals and plants lose their homes because of changes in the environment.
invasive species: new plants or animals brought to a place where they don't belong and can cause problems.
global warming: the increase in Earth’s temperature caused by pollution, affecting weather and ecosystems.
Summary
Organisms in an ecosystem rely on each other for various needs, like food, shelter, reproduction, and protection.
Disruptions to one part of the ecosystem can have cascading effects on other organisms, creating a chain reaction.
Interdependence is often centred around vital resources like water, sunlight, and nutrients.
Changes in environmental conditions, such as shifts in rainfall patterns or nutrient availability, can upset the delicate balance.
Human actions like deforestation, pollution, overfishing, and habitat destruction can disrupt interdependent relationships.
Significant human disturbances compromise the delicate balance within ecosystems.
References
1 Interdependence of Living Things. LibreTexts Biology, n.d, link
2 Natural Disruptions to Ecosystems. Mcgraw Hill Education Common Core achieve, n.d, link
3 Climate Impacts on Ecosystems . EPA, n.d, link
4 What Could Happen if Abiotic Factors in an Ecosystem Change ? Socratic Q&A, 2016, link
5 Human Impacts on Ecosystems. Khan Academy, n.d link
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